Underling told cops gang leader killed 'to show off'

Prosecutors hope evidence in 2008 slaying will help put gang leader away for life

A much-feared gang leader who federal prosecutors allege murdered an off-duty Chicago police detective and his female companion in 2008 shot the pair for no other reason than to show how coldblooded he could be, an underling told police days after the slayings.

Terrance Scott told police that Traveling Vice Lord lieutenant Jason "J-Rock" Austin had been staking out the home of a gang rival whom he intended to kill when he noticed an SUV parked nearby that he decided to rob, according to a video recording of the interview played Friday in federal court.

Austin walked up with a drawn revolver and told Robert Soto, 49, an off-duty detective, to turn over any cash or valuables he had, Scott told police. Soto may have fumbled with his wallet before Austin opened fire on the off-duty officer and Kathryn Romberg, 45, in the early morning of Aug. 13, 2008, as they sat in Soto's SUV on West Franklin Boulevard.

Scott said there was no reason for Austin to shoot the two.

"I think he was just trying to show off," Scott said. "I think that's why he shot him."

The recording was played by federal prosecutors who are attempting to persuade U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow to sentence Austin to life in prison after he was convicted last year on federal charges that he ran a drug market a few blocks from where the two were slain.

Because the evidence is being offered at Austin's sentencing, prosecutors have to show only that he is more likely guilty than not — not the higher threshold of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

State prosecutors six years ago dropped the murder case against Austin amid what they alleged was a scheme by Austin and fellow gang members to intimidate witnesses into changing their stories.

On Friday, Chicago police Detective Greg Swiderek, who interviewed Scott in the recording, testified that a high-ranking Traveling Vice Lord told him he had provided $10,000 to give to Scott and Troy Davis, who was also with Austin that night, to change their stories. And Chicago police Officer Robert Garcia testified that the owner of an auto-body shop on West Grand Avenue recanted moments before testifying before the grand jury.

The owner initially said he had returned the Buick Regal allegedly used in the crime the day before the shootings, but he later said he'd been mistaken and had kept the car in his shop until the day after the slayings because the paint for the doors had not come in. Garcia testified that he was giving the owner a ride to the Leighton Criminal Court Building when the man began wringing his hands and asked the officer if "we realized the gravity of the situation ... that Austin and his gangbanger friends were a bunch of murderers."